INFO - Victor Pianos

[Les Smith]

On Thu, 11 Dec 1997, Delwin D Fandrich wrote:

>  I don't know about Victor's, but there wasn't a whole lot about upright
   piano building that Bush & Lane didn't know.
> 
> -- ddf

Bush and Lane started out in Chicago as the Victor Piano company. A few
years later, they changed their name to Bush and Lane. The genius behind
the pianos was Walter Lane. After the name change, they still retained the
Victor name on some of their pianos. Eventually they moved their factories
to Holland, Michigan. Later, they acquired the Ferrand player piano com-
pany, also in Holland, Michigan, and got into players in a big way. Not
only were Walter Lane's uprights of SUPERB quality, but the Bush and Lane
player action of the 20's--which weighed in at an astonishing 200+ lbs!
due to its all metal construction--was one of the finest and easiest to
service ever built. It made the likes of Standard Action and even Auto-
piano look pretty shabby by comparison. Although Walter Lane's name is
virtually forgotten today, whenever technicians gather to discuss high
quality upright pianos and player actions, it will be remembered.

I personally own seven pianos, which are scattered throughout my home.
Six are restored (NOT REBUILT!) turn-of-the-centruy grands. The seventh
is one of Walter's beautifully-built, late 20's upright pianos, outfit-
ted with the previously-mentioned outstanding player mechanism. The
piano, however, stands on its own as one of the most beautiful sounding
uprights I've ever encountered. Over the years, I've rebuilt a number
of them and they were all impressive instruments. If you're ever lucky
enough to encountered one in pristine condition, and hear and play one
for yourself, you're not likely to forget the experience. As Del said,
there apparently wasn't much about building upright pianos that Walter
Lane didn't know. Patent drawings still exist to exemplify some of Wal-
ter's original ideas concering bridge and soundboard design.

For those with more interest in the subject, I wrote an article for
Pianotech about a year or so ago that might be available in the ar-
chives, somewhere.

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net